Mar. 11, 2014
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GM's headquarters in Detroit. / Bill Pugliano, Getty Images

by Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press

by Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press

UPDATE with congressional committee demands to General Motors, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

WASHINGTON - Congressional investigators today ramped up a probe into General Motors' recall of 1.6 million vehicles because of what appears to be a longstanding ignition switch issue by demanding years of documentation and incident reports from both the company and federal regulators.

In letters to GM CEO Mary Barra and David Friedman, acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, and other committee leaders gave them two weeks to provide the information.

Last month, GM expanded an earlier announced recall involving six models -- all from between 2003 and 2007 model years -- to correct a defect that caused ignition switches to move out of position, leading to a loss of power and causing air bags not to deploy. The defect was linked to at least 31 crashes and 13 deaths.

Federal regulators at NHTSA had already opened an investigation of their own into the GM recall, questioning whether the company reported the problem in a timely manner. In announcing a congressional investigation Monday night, Upton also questioned whether either the company could have acted more quickly, with customer complaints over the switches dating back years.

"Problems involving ignition switches and stalls in the recalled GM models are not a recent or unknown phenomenon. Since 2003, consumers have filed numerous complaints," Upton and the other committee leaders said in their letters to the company and NHTSA.

A hearing is expected in the weeks to come. GM officials said they were "fully cooperating with NHTSA and will do so with the committee, too. We welcome the opportunity to help both parties have a full understanding of the facts."

The scope of the investigation could well widen further, however. Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia -- the Democratic chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee -- was talking to subcommittee officials about beginning a Senate inquiry as well.

In the letters to GM and NHTSA, House committee leaders -- including subcommittee chairmen and top Democrats, including Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, who long sat atop the panel -- asked for field reports related to ignition stalls, analyses of incident reports and "documents that refer or relate to ... correction actions." They also want a time line showing reports and discussions between GM and NHTSA.

"The committee will examine whether GM knowingly allowed faulty and dangerous cars to remain on the road," said U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the committee and one of the letters' signers. "We will be assessing whether NHTSA has all the tools the agency needs to keep drivers safe."